1. Field of Invention
The current invention relates to radiation and x-ray sources, devices using the radiation and x-ray sources and methods of use; and more particularly to mechanically operated radiation and x-ray sources, devices using the mechanically operated radiation and x-ray sources and methods of use.
2. Discussion of Related Art
When a continuous medium is driven far from equilibrium, nonlinear processes can lead to strong concentrations in the energy density. Sonoluminescence (Putterman, S. J. Weninger, K. R. Sonoluminescence: how bubbles turn sound into light. Annual Rev of Fluid Mech. 32, 445 (2000)) provides an example where acoustic energy concentrates by 12 orders of magnitude to generate sub-nanosecond flashes of ultraviolet light. Charge separation at contacting surfaces (Harper, W. R. Contact and Frictional Electrification (Laplacian Press, Morgan Hill, Calif., 1998); Deryagin, B. V. Krotova, N. A. Smilga, V. P. Adhesion of Solids (Consultants bureau, New York, 1978)) is another example of a process which funnels diffuse mechanical energy into high energy emission. Lightning (Black, R. A. Hallett, J. The mystery of cloud electrification. American Scientist, 86, 526 (1998)) for instance has been shown to generate x-rays with energies above 10 keV (Dwyer, J. R. et al. Energetic radiation produced during rocket-triggered lightning. Science 299, 694-697 (2003)). Although triboelectrification is important for many natural and industrial processes, its physical explanation is still debated (Black, R. A. Hallett, J. The mystery of cloud electrification. American Scientist, 86, 526 (1998); McCarty, L. Whitesides, G. M. Electrostatic charging due to separation of ions at interfaces: contact electrification of ionic electrets. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed, 47, 2188-2207 (2008)).
By peeling pressure sensitive adhesive tape, one can realize an everyday example of tribocharging and triboluminescence (Walton, A. J. Triboluminescence. Adv. in Phys. 26, 887-948 (1977)); the emission of visible light. Tape provides a particularly interesting example of these phenomena because it has been claimed that the fundamental energy which holds tape to a surface is provided by the Van der Waals interaction (Gay, C. Leibler, L. Theory of tackiness, Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 936-939 (1999)). This energy—the weakest in chemistry—is almost 100 times smaller than the energy required for generating a visible photon, yet, as demonstrated by E. Newton Harvey (Harvey, N. E. The Luminescence of adhesive tape, Science New Series 89, 460-461 (1939)) in 1939, light emission from peeling tape can be seen with the unaided eye. That even more energetic processes were at play had already been suggested in 1930 by Obreimoff (Obreimoff, J. W. The splitting strength of mica. Proc. Roy. Soc. 290-297 (1930)) who observed that when mica is split under vacuum “the glass of the vessel fluoresces like an X-ray bulb”. This insight motivated Karasev (Karasev, V. V. Krotova, N. A. Deryagin, B. W. Study of electronic emission during the stripping of a layer of high polymer from glass in a vacuum. Dolk. Akad. Nauk. SSR 88, 777 (1953). [Engl. Trans, NSF-tr-28; July 1953 Columbia University Russian Science Translation Project]) to suggest that peeling tape can emit electrons. However, despite such observations of unexpected physical effects over many years, there remains a need to exploit such phenomena for useful devices and methods.